


untitled

by LtTanyaBoone



Series: welcome to the Modern AU [1]
Category: Pan Am
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 18:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3219047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LtTanyaBoone/pseuds/LtTanyaBoone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Colette scoots closer and leans in, brushing her lips over Kate’s in a gentle caress. She makes to pull back, but Kate’s hand flies out, snaking into Colette’s hair as she pulls her in and kisses back."</p>
            </blockquote>





	untitled

**Author's Note:**

> I received a "Modern AU" prompt for Kate and Colette during the Christmas special I did on tumblr and haven't been able to stop thinking about this ever since. So no, Colette being blonde isn't a mistake but me using Karine Vanasse's current hairstyle for the character.

**Disclaimers:** Pan Am, the rights to the show and its characters do not belong to me. No money was made by this.  
**Pairing:** Kate Cameron/Colette Valois modern AU  
**Rating:** FRT

* * *

Colette is laughing, like full on holding her stomach and rolling around on her back laughing. And Kate has no idea what set this particular laugh flash off, she just knows that all of a sudden the laughter freezes in her throat as she stares at her friend of the past seven months and her heart skips a beat before this warm fuzzy feeling overwhelms her.

The French stewardess notices, her laughter dying down to soft chuckles as she wipes at the moisture in the corner of her eyes.

“Sometimes I wonder if our parents ever imagined that we’d one day be watching ridiculous animal videos on mobile phones wearing PJs and lying in bed,” the blonde grins, watching Kate. Who in turn knows she’s staring, but she just can’t help herself.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” she breathes, her eyes widening at her words. The smile freezes on Colette’s face and she lets her arm with her cell phone fall down on the covers.

“Are you okay?” she asks, her voice strangely soft as she searches Kate’s face.

“I,” Kate starts, biting down on her bottom lip before she draws a ragged breath, “can I touch you?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper. The other woman hesitates, shifting and setting her phone down on the nightstand before she turns to face Kate again and gives a silent nod.

When the redhead reaches out, her hand is shaking and she has to close her eyes at the pull in her stomach when her fingers touch Colette’s cheek. The French woman watches her, keeps her eyes locked to Kate’s as the redhead carefully strokes her cheek, trails her fingers down the other woman’s jaw line.

“May I kiss you?”

Colette’s voice is steady, almost too loud to Kate’s ears. She can hear her blood rushing in her ears, deafening silence stretching between them before she nods. Colette scoots closer and leans in, brushing her lips over Kate’s in a gentle caress. She makes to pull back, but Kate’s hand flies out, snaking into Colette’s hair as she pulls her in, opening her mouth as she kisses back, her tongue darting out. There’s a soft sound of surprise before Colette’s eyes flutter shut and she returns the kiss, her hand settling on Kate’s arm, fingers digging into the material of the redhead’s shirt.

“Please,” Kate whimpers when Colette finally breaks the kiss, resting her forehead against hers. She has no idea what she’s actually asking for, for Colette to keep kissing her, for her to do something else than just hold her arm, for her to say something, for her to never mention this new episode of Kate being unable to control her desires… The list seems endless, really.

“I’m here,” Colette replies, carefully reaching up to stroke Kate’s cheek. The American turns her face into the touch, her eyes closing at the gentle caress. “Talk to me, Kate. Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to kiss me again,” Kate breathes, wondering briefly how on earth they got here.

Twelve weeks ago, Kate blurted that she was gay when Colette asked her why she snapped at her sister on the plane when Laura had attempted to set Kate up on a date. Twelve weeks ago, she swore Colette into secrecy, made her promise not to tell a soul. Because Laura is working with them and because Kate’s parents have chosen to superglue their eyes shut to the various hints at their older daughter’s sexuality. Nine weeks ago, she got drunk on cheap vodka and drunk dialed the French stewardess, rambling on about how she envied her for her ability to not give a fuck about what other people think. How jealous she is of Colette’s lack of family expectations and pressure. Not that Kate wishes her parents were dead, and she absolutely didn’t mean it that way. But it would be nice, sometimes, not to have to think of what her mother would think if she knew how her daughter was behaving. Eight weeks ago, Colette showed her the steps of a dance she’d learned from one of their Greek passengers and Kate found herself blushing furiously at the feeling of the other woman’s hand at the small of her back. Six weeks ago, she realized that Colette’s hand lingered for just a second too long to be just a comforting touch between friends after Kate got chewed out by their purser. Five weeks, three days ago, Kate kissed Colette for the first time. She’d not planned on it, it had just happened, when they were stuck in an elevator for almost four hours. Five weeks, two days ago, Colette told her that there wouldn’t be anything happening between them until Kate was ready. Four weeks, four days ago, Kate called in sick and sat out two flights because she couldn’t face the mere thought of being anywhere close to Colette, because she felt like everyone must’ve noticed by now how in love she is with the other woman. Two weeks, one day ago Kate switched to Economy so she could be closer to Colette, wondering how often she’d be able to sneak in innocent touches before one of their colleagues or worse, one of the passengers would notice. Nine days ago, Kate asked Colette to share a hotel room again. Six days ago, Colette stopped by her place with an expensive bottle of wine and all that happened was that they sat on Kate’s couch and held hands, Kate pulling hers away every time she felt the burning sensation across her skin become unbearable. Now they’re sharing a hotel room bed during layover and it’s so absolutely inappropriate but all Kate can think about is how she _wants_ , she wants to kiss Colette again, she wants to keep going, she wants to undress the other woman, she wants to touch Colette and she wants her to touch her, too.

Colette does kiss her again, deeply, making Kate see stars. She doesn’t realize she’s crying until Colette pulls away and gently takes Kate’s hands off her shirt.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Colette whispers, stroking her thumbs over Kate’s knuckles and the American lets out a sob. “Kate, it’s fine. We don’t have to do anything-”

“But I want to,” the redhead protests, sitting up and wiping at her tears angrily. “I want to, this is so fucking stupid, why am I even crying?” she sniffles, kicking at the covers. She hears Colette shift and feels her sit up, the other woman’s chin resting on Kate’s shoulder briefly before she kisses her cheek, wiping away some of the tears. She feels Colette’s arm snake around her middle, stroking her side soothingly.

“I’m sorry,” Kate mutters, reaching up to wipe at her tears.

“Don’t be,” Colette whispers, brushing Kate’s hair behind her ear. “And don’t apologize for needing more time.”

Kate closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, willing to stop herself from crying. She feels Colette tug at her and looks at the other woman with a sniffle.

“I’m not going to do anything, I promise,” the blonde tells her, leaning back and opening her arms. The American stewardess watches briefly before she lies down and allows Colette to draw her close. She remembers years ago, when she was still a teenager, and Laura and her used to sneak into each other’s beds whenever they couldn’t sleep. Laura snuggled up to her then, her head on Kate’s chest just like Kate is resting hers on Colette’s now. She can hear the other woman’s heart beat, slowly, regularly. It’s almost peaceful, especially with Colette’s hand running through her hair, and her soft lips when they press a kiss to Kate’s forehead.

Kate draws a breath and opens her mouth, but realizes just what she is about to say before the words make it past her lips. Colette’s ministrations stop briefly before they pick up again; she knows the other woman felt her tense up. But she’s not asking what Kate was about to say, isn’t asking if anything’s wrong or if she’s okay.

“Do you think Bridget is ever going to give Dean an answer to his proposal?” Kate asks. She feels Colette shrug, her shoulder moving under her head.

“I don’t think Bridget is ever going to give anyone a straight answer,” she finally replies, making Kate wonder what happened between the two women that seemed almost inseparable to her when they were first introduced to each other. Maybe it’s simply time making the friends grow apart, or maybe it’s because she’s been spending more and more time with Colette and started being able to read the other woman and her cues. Kate would like to think it’s the latter. That she’s finally getting a glimpse past the carefully constructed, warm, charming and friendly face that Colette wears every day. She is still charming, still very warm, loving and welcoming, but there is quietness to her that Kate wasn’t aware of before, a thoughtfulness that she didn’t necessarily suspect. But as much as she enjoyed their crazy debriefings and wild dancing together, Kate has to admit that this, just being with Colette in private, not talking, simply being with each other, is much better.

 


End file.
